1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a system and a method for the control of the operation of elevator installations.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
For control of operation, each elevator installation is associated with control equipment, to which sensors and activators, such as, for example, operating, actuating and setting elements of the elevator installation, are connected. A microprocessor of the local control equipment reads the input signals and switches the output signals according to the provided control program. The processing of the signals and the statements, such as, for example, number of storeys, type of drive and so forth, which describe the elevator installation and are stored in the control, takes place in a microprocessor in situ at the elevator installation.
Elevator installation systems, the elevators of which are, apart from a conventional control equipment, equipped additionally with a modem for remote monitoring, have become known from European reference EP 0 252 266 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,478. For this remote monitoring of elevator installations, the respective control equipment of each individual elevator installation communicates under certain conditions, by means of a modem by way of the public telephone network, with a central maintenance or service location. The data exchange provided in that case consists primarily of predefined diagnostic data with respect to operating state and events of interference and alarm at all elevator installations connected with the central maintenance or service location.
According to build-up and manner of function, the actual data exchange specific to the installation is preceded by a data exchange procedure which on the one hand builds up the communication channel and on the other hand regulates the access or the access authorization to data of the elevator control.
Although elevator installation systems equipped in this manner with a control system individual to an elevator together with modem enlargement and central maintenance and service location have proved themselves, they are nevertheless expensive in terms of apparatus by reason of their constructional and functional properties explained so far, and only a narrow selection of predefined reports can be transmitted to the maintenance and service center. The upkeep and the maintenance of the individual elevator installations, which are connected with the maintenance and service center and sometimes lie far apart in location in the overall system, become cost-intensive. Thereby, long waiting times arise in the case of operational disturbances of an elevator installation or of an elevator until the cause of the disturbance is ascertained at the location and the disturbance is eliminated.